Latest / Low to Grow / Running OffScript with Calypso Rose: The OffScript Gen Summit with Max Fosh and More

Transcript

Running OffScript with Calypso Rose: The OffScript Gen Summit with Max Fosh and More · Low to Grow

• 0:00
  Hello everyone, it's Annie and welcome back to the Low to Grow
• 0:03
  podcast. Today I have something a little
• 0:05
  different for you. It's a bonus episode because at
• 0:09
  the weekend I packed up my mic and my phone and headed off to
• 0:13
  South Kensington to attend the very First off Script Generation
• 0:16
  Summit. Now this is a brand new
• 0:19
  gathering that's not a careers fair and not a traditional
• 0:22
  networking event. Rather it's a curated event that
• 0:26
  is built for the younger generation of 16 to 25 year olds
• 0:30
  who do not want to follow a linear world trodden career
• 0:34
  rulebook. People there are those who
• 0:37
  wanted to be creatives, coders, thinkers, doers, entrepreneurs
• 0:41
  and they were all there to learn about other people who have
• 0:44
  carved out their own path and proved that you can live a well
• 0:48
  lived life that isn't linear. My main mission was to interview
• 0:52
  Calypso Rose, who is one of of Scripps Summit's brilliant
• 0:56
  founders and also a serial and a successful entrepreneur herself.
• 1:01
  I wanted to chat to her about why creating this third venture
• 1:05
  was socially meaningful for her and also why she believes that
• 1:08
  something like the Office script generation is needed at this
• 1:11
  particular moment in 2026. Over the course of the day, I
• 1:15
  got to speak to some of the incredible and influential
• 1:18
  speakers such as YouTube and comedian Max Fosch on how he
• 1:22
  actually broke into YouTube at a time when the platform was
• 1:25
  already quite crowded. How do you build mental
• 1:28
  resilience? Is it creating yourself?
• 1:29
  I think it's it's understanding that not everything that you
• 1:32
  make is going to do well and perform and it's divorcing the
• 1:36
  time and effort that you've put into the success of the content
• 1:41
  because that's kind of out of your control.
• 1:43
  So as long as you're making stuff that you enjoy and you
• 1:46
  think is good, then that's the most important thing.
• 1:48
  And then hopefully people will join you.
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  I've always said that the most important view that you have is
• 1:52
  yourself. And if you're making content
• 1:53
  that you enjoy, then hopefully you'll you will find an
• 1:56
  audience. You also enjoy it as well.
• 1:57
  So that's mental health. I think communication and
• 1:59
  talking with a core group of people that you trust and love
• 2:02
  is very important. That that's friends, whether
• 2:03
  that's family, moving your body is always going to make you feel
• 2:07
  better. Yeah.
• 2:08
  And then the final thing, I feel very, very grateful that my, I
• 2:11
  have a group of friends who are I love very much and I've got
• 2:14
  deep, deep connections with. So, you know, it's friendship,
• 2:16
  communication and getting outside for a run.
• 2:19
  What makes the comic special for you?
• 2:21
  It is so exciting to see so many young people in the next
• 2:25
  generation coming in to try and learn as much as they can about
• 2:28
  different areas and different subjects, and if I can impart a
• 2:31
  little bit of wisdom to that, I feel very, very honoured to be
• 2:34
  part of it. I then found my courage with
• 2:37
  what I hope was good manners. Ask William Hanson, the British
• 2:41
  etiquette coach, on why he thinks that mining your manners
• 2:44
  will serve young people well in today's job market.
• 2:47
  In terms of building mental resilience, it can be very
• 2:50
  difficult, particularly with anything that you put online.
• 2:52
  It's terribly democratic in many ways.
• 2:54
  Everyone is able to share their thoughts and even if those
• 2:57
  thoughtful opinions are at times abrasive, unfounded, bigoted.
• 3:03
  However, that's free speech and it's half of the course.
• 3:06
  One of the ways that I have built up resilience and to to
• 3:09
  not worry too much about confidence as well.
• 3:11
  A lot of reason, but also not to take it too seriously.
• 3:15
  One thing I think that would allow people to have better
• 3:17
  mental health is focusing on integrating with people rather
• 3:21
  than devices. These devices are great, we all
• 3:24
  need them. We'll reuse them in our social
• 3:26
  and professional lives, but they're there to compliment real
• 3:29
  human interaction rather than to replace it.
• 3:32
  And so actually developing people's skills and focusing on
• 3:35
  human beings, I think is is going to boost not only
• 3:39
  self-confidence, but also improve mental health as well.
• 3:43
  What makes this summit so special is a wonderful
• 3:45
  opportunity to connect with the future.
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  The future generations, Those that are going to go into the
• 3:50
  workplace are already making their first few steps in the
• 3:53
  workplace and talk to them about a topic, in my instance, that
• 3:58
  really isn't talked about enough.
• 3:59
  It's about treating people with respect, civility, charm and
• 4:02
  good grace. And you only have to open up a
• 4:04
  newspaper or look online to see that.
• 4:06
  We need that now more than ever. I was also delighted to connect
• 4:10
  with fellow female entrepreneur Charlotte Libling, AKA The
• 4:13
  Fluffy CEO, on how she created a company with social impact but
• 4:18
  has already partnered with the likes of Bloomingdale's and
• 4:21
  Salvages. As a female entrepreneur
• 4:23
  building resilience, this had to be something I've learned, you
• 4:26
  know, thick and fast. For me personally, it's been
• 4:29
  about accepting the fact that as part of my journey, I will
• 4:33
  always experience doubt and failure and actually as an
• 4:37
  influencer as well and a profile hate.
• 4:40
  And that is an energy that will sit in me and it will, it will
• 4:43
  always, you know, it will always be a thing.
• 4:46
  But I've learned through a set kind of number of methodologies
• 4:49
  to turn that into rocket fuel. So instead of it, you know,
• 4:53
  pushing me into the ground, it's the energy that helps fuel me up
• 4:58
  and become what I know I can. One thing that I think will
• 5:02
  enable people to have better mental health is the idea that
• 5:05
  we spend a bit more time investing in understanding and
• 5:09
  thinking about the positive things that are going in the
• 5:11
  world as much as we invest our energy into thinking about the
• 5:14
  bad things that are going on. Especially with the media, it's
• 5:17
  very easy to get lost in the bad stories.
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  And we catastrophize a lot, but there's no positive equivalent
• 5:22
  of that. There's no space where we allow
• 5:24
  ourselves to get lost in imagining the possibilities of
• 5:27
  the good things. Whatever the opposite of
• 5:29
  catastrophizing is, I think we need to turn that into a habit
• 5:32
  and start doing it more. The off script Generation Summit
• 5:35
  is really special because, well, a, it's something that I didn't
• 5:38
  have anything the sort of when I was younger.
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  There are lots of conventional career fairs and things out
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  there that support keeper who have an idea what they might
• 5:46
  want to do. But for the group that are
• 5:48
  heading down that non linear path, following their heart in
• 5:51
  some other sense, there's nothing that really celebrates,
• 5:54
  inspires and empowers that quite like this.
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  So it feels a really magical thing to be and be part.
• 6:00
  And surprisingly on the way I ran into one of my previous and
• 6:04
  wonderful Loyalty Bride podcast guests, Reese Vaughn.
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  He is a Diana Award winner, recent graduate and was at the
• 6:12
  summit to lead a workshop on personal branding.
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  When I first saw Officer up on the website, it stood out to me
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  because one, it brings young people together with their
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  parents, and so few events actually do that.
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  But #2 it's so needed because exactly, we're in a world where
• 6:27
  careers are going to be nonlinear.
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  People and young people especially need to embrace
• 6:32
  entrepreneurship and this and then hits all of those check
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  boxes. I'm super excited to be here and
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  it's been great so far. I've been speaking with parents
• 6:40
  and their kids and it's such an awesome event right now with so
• 6:44
  much absurdity. Young people, yes, need to be
• 6:47
  getting ahead and thinking about their careers, but they also
• 6:49
  need to think about how they can better protect their mental
• 6:52
  health and better safeguard their own psychological safety
• 6:56
  and their own, like, comfortability.
• 6:58
  So I think, yes, people should be getting out there, doing
• 7:01
  things, being entrepreneurial, but at the same time have the
• 7:04
  awareness that you should have pushed yourself too much.
• 7:07
  You shouldn't get yourself to a point of burnout.
• 7:09
  Each of these amazing speakers, organizers, and entrepreneurs
• 7:13
  that I spoke to really brought something real and grounded
• 7:16
  about them. Honestly, this summit was
• 7:18
  something that I wish I had been able to attend when I was in my
• 7:21
  teens. This is your exclusive behind
• 7:24
  the scenes peek into the conversation that I had with
• 7:27
  Calypso Rose, the powerhouse behind the Off Script Generation
• 7:31
  Summit. Let's dive in.
• 7:33
  Calypso, who do you want to be listening to this podcast?
• 7:38
  Who do I want to be listening to this podcast after this event?
• 7:41
  We've got all this incredible content and we're not just going
• 7:45
  to put it on YouTube with creating an education library
• 7:48
  that is accessible to education partners, career leads, and
• 7:53
  universities. So I'd love them to get in
• 7:55
  contact with us and I can give them access to the content.
• 7:57
  We didn't want to put it just on on YouTube so that people get
• 8:01
  distracted by algorithms and other things that come up.
• 8:04
  That's who I'd like to speak to. So it's great to be here.
• 8:08
  So where did your story start? This is my third business.
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  I'm a serial entrepreneur. I sold my business about six
• 8:14
  months ago. The Co founder John Ford Gordon
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  came to me and said careers fairs, they just aren't doing
• 8:20
  the job anymore. The world is changing and young
• 8:22
  people need to explore what the future is going to look like
• 8:24
  now, not what I look like. Last year we together came up
• 8:28
  with this summit called Off Script and we've got big name
• 8:32
  thinkers and workshops talking about the future of work and AI
• 8:36
  and entrepreneurship. That's great.
• 8:38
  And today, obviously, is the first day of Golf Script
• 8:41
  Generation Summit. How's it going so far?
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  What's going through your mind? It's been so good and the
• 8:47
  insights that we're getting from young people who've been to see
• 8:49
  Ali Asami to Max Fosch, they're just really excited to be here.
• 8:54
  And obviously it's the first time we've done this event so
• 8:57
  slightly chaotic, but it's all coming together.
• 9:01
  It's pretty. That's fantastic.
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  And Calypso, what's the most meaningful part for you of
• 9:05
  organizing this event? It's the outcomes that the young
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  adults get. So what I really want is, even
• 9:12
  if it's just a handful to leave here with clarity on their next
• 9:16
  steps and what what they actually want to do tomorrow,
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  whether it's go on to lovable and start there next business
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  or, you know, a startup, or if it's thinking that actually, I
• 9:27
  always wanted to work at Google, but now I, I don't think I do.
• 9:30
  I think I want to do something for myself.
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  You know, I want to hear those stories.
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  That's what is the most we're we're here because we really
• 9:38
  believe in what we're doing and we want to help.
• 9:40
  That's wonderful. Earlier, I was going to talk
• 9:42
  with editor in Chief The Observer, and he was talking
• 9:45
  about Chachi PT and AI and as to how young people can really
• 9:48
  adapt to that in their lives, and I thought it was such a good
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  topic to be bringing to the audience for today.
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  Also refreshing was seeing the mix of parents and children.
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  And it's really rare to have an event that brings both of them
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  together in one place. Basically because the parents,
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  you know, at the moment, everyone's feeling a bit lost.
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  So to have those conversations together, often the parents say
• 10:08
  you've got to go to university and you've got to do this
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  because this is what I did. But then hearing talks like
• 10:13
  this, you're like, actually, maybe that's not the right
• 10:15
  route. And there are other routes.
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  There's apprenticeships and there's, you know, just getting
• 10:20
  started or going to university, but having a side hustle as
• 10:23
  well. Just so you learn about having
• 10:25
  an entrepreneurial mindset and and business.
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  And was that what you did when you were growing up?
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  Did you have a side hustle whilst you were studying as
• 10:32
  well? I.
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  Went to about 3 different universities for about two
• 10:35
  weeks. So I left school, did PR and
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  marketing, then thought I feel too young to be running into the
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  world of work. Went to university, looked at
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  the library, felt terrified and dropped out.
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  And then I started my first business at 21 E Handbag
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  Company, which in the end I did for 10 years and sold across the
• 10:57
  world. So I sold it from Japan to being
• 10:59
  a #1 seller in Selfridges at Christmas.
• 11:02
  So it went viral. That's pretty incredible.
• 11:05
  And to have such a success with your first business as well, how
• 11:09
  did it feel for you at 21 creating that first business?
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  I loved it. I loved the adventure.
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  I mean, I don't know how much money I made.
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  A lot of it just seemed to sit in stock and paying everyone
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  else. And I was doing so many trade
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  shows, doing 15 trade shows a year.
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  It was a roller coaster. I mean, I loved it.
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  I went to Japan maybe four or five times and worked in a
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  department store there and all these opportunities I just
• 11:32
  wouldn't have had otherwise. And I learned so much.
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  And then I licensed it and set up another business called the
• 11:38
  Institute straight afterwards. Because by that point I kind of
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  felt I was unemployable, you know, having always run my own
• 11:45
  business. I think if I did it all over
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  again, what I would have found, what with my first business, I
• 11:51
  would have found myself a mentor and someone that really knew the
• 11:55
  industry that I was working in. And also I probably would have
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  had a financial director as well.
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  So were you looking after all aspects?
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  I was doing, yeah, I was doing everything.
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  And I was young and I, it was really successful very quickly.
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  So I probably part of me was like, I don't think I need that
• 12:13
  advice when if I did it all ever again of like I need that advice
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  and I need to take the advice from someone that has done it
• 12:20
  and is looking at my books and knows my business but also knows
• 12:24
  the industry. Understood and how do you feel
• 12:27
  about you have changed yourself as a business owner and I was a
• 12:31
  female entrepreneur since when you were 21 starting your first
• 12:34
  business to now launching off script generation.
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  So my first business, I want to be a millionaire.
• 12:40
  Yeah, I just want to make loads of money.
• 12:41
  Second business, I wanted to have a lifestyle that didn't
• 12:45
  mean that I was in trade shows constantly and I wanted a much
• 12:48
  more balanced life off scripts. I just want purpose.
• 12:52
  So I really want to help people and see how we can keep
• 12:56
  following that journey of the person, people that we've helped
• 13:00
  and keep being there as sort of mentor.
• 13:02
  And so I want this brand to have a long life where we see
• 13:05
  everyone's journeys from beginning to end.
• 13:06
  And for you, what's the importance of in real life
• 13:10
  events such as the Summit in the age that's very digitalized, so
• 13:13
  for example, anyone here can make a LinkedIn and connect with
• 13:16
  people that they don't know what is it about in real life events?
• 13:19
  Do you think that is the reason why young people should still
• 13:21
  prioritize that? Well, that's how people remember
• 13:24
  you. You know, if they're making real
• 13:26
  connections in real life, you're going to be remembered.
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  You're not just going to be scrolled past.
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  This is, I think, events like this, this is your opportunity
• 13:34
  to go and speak to that speaker, ask the questions and also
• 13:38
  realise that you're not alone. I mean, LinkedIn for me is like
• 13:43
  other people's Instagram, you know, I get real FOMO.
• 13:46
  I look at everyone going, oh, I'm not enough, I'm not doing
• 13:48
  enough. And it's just absolute rubbish.
• 13:51
  You know you are doing enough, you are working hard enough, you
• 13:54
  are achieving enough, but sometimes you don't realize that
• 13:57
  unless you're actually in the room with people.
• 13:59
  That makes sense. And for you, how do you feel
• 14:03
  that young people's definition of success has changed over,
• 14:06
  say, the past 10 or 20 years? I definitely think young people
• 14:09
  are looking for more of a balanced lifestyle.
• 14:11
  They're seeing their parents burnout and going through the
• 14:14
  pandemic and they think I don't really fancy that.
• 14:17
  I want to be able to see my friends and stay healthy and
• 14:22
  stay fit and also build a business.
• 14:25
  I think that's very different to my generation.
• 14:28
  Understood. Going forwards in the age of AI,
• 14:31
  what is one thing that you think young people could do to best
• 14:35
  equip themselves for their future career?
• 14:37
  Just start, go on to Lovable or any of these tools and just
• 14:42
  build something and put it on your CV.
• 14:44
  Think of a problem that you face.
• 14:47
  Could be a really small problem. It could be your.
• 14:49
  You want your family to be more organized or you want to help
• 14:53
  schedule the weekly shopping, build an app for it, play with
• 14:57
  all the tools, create a brand using ChatGPT.
• 15:01
  Just keep on doing lots of little projects so that you
• 15:04
  learn all these different micro skills and it's going to make
• 15:07
  you super invaluable when you go into your next job.
• 15:10
  Calypso, would you be able to share one of the most
• 15:13
  challenging times that you've had, either in your professional
• 15:15
  life or in your personal life, that's really influenced who you
• 15:18
  are today? One of the most challenging
• 15:22
  times while being an entrepreneur.
• 15:24
  It's quite a lot of them. But I guess it would be the
• 15:27
  pandemic. When I had an experienced
• 15:29
  company, we just lost all our revenue and all our search terms
• 15:33
  and we had to pivot the business.
• 15:34
  So it was at home experiences. I also managed to fall off my
• 15:38
  bicycle and break my jaw. So I had my jaw wired shut
• 15:41
  throughout the whole of lockdown.
• 15:44
  So I couldn't eat. I could only eat soup.
• 15:46
  All on top of that was pretty tough going.
• 15:49
  What I learned is like how resilient you are, how tough you
• 15:52
  are. But I also had a small child at
• 15:54
  the time who was three, and I know it was tough for everyone
• 15:58
  that time. But you come out the other side
• 16:00
  and go, cool, if I can get through that, I can actually get
• 16:04
  through anything With setbacks in business, the more you go
• 16:08
  through, the more setbacks and then you come out the other
• 16:11
  side, you realize that the world's not going to end for
• 16:14
  you. You know, your business fails or
• 16:16
  that project fails. At the time you think it's going
• 16:20
  to be a disaster. That's the end of your life.
• 16:23
  But actually you come out the other side and you've learned so
• 16:26
  much and you're like, oh, I'm OK.
• 16:30
  So now when I have big setbacks, I know at the time I just go, Oh
• 16:34
  well, it'll be fine. The universe will have my back,
• 16:38
  will come out and it'll be, you know, even if the company fails,
• 16:41
  we're all still OK. That's a true entrepreneur's
• 16:44
  mindset as well. How are you teaching your child
• 16:47
  you know about resilience and also how to deal with failure
• 16:50
  and setbacks? I suppose I just tell him that
• 16:53
  it doesn't, it doesn't matter. I just want him to keep starting
• 16:56
  and to keep trying. He's 9 now and actually he's
• 16:59
  really good because he likes to sell things.
• 17:01
  He's an absolute salesman. I just see him when we have a
• 17:04
  little stall outside the house or we have stalls at the market.
• 17:08
  He goes up to everyone and talks and tries to sell what he's
• 17:11
  selling. And they're saying no, no, leave
• 17:14
  me alone, no thank you. And he's just like next, you
• 17:17
  know? That's so good because I feel
• 17:18
  like so much of entrepreneurship and building your own company,
• 17:21
  as you all know, is having a really thick skin and being able
• 17:25
  and willing to ask for things and being happy with people
• 17:28
  saying no. Most you are moan, but it's not
• 17:30
  something to be taken so personally as well.
• 17:32
  So it's fantastic. But he's able to do that
• 17:34
  already. Is he here today?
• 17:36
  He's coming later. Fantastic.
• 17:37
  OK. I'm sure he'd love to chat.
• 17:39
  He loves the chat. But I mean, that's one of the
• 17:41
  biggest skills in life to be a good salesman, to be to be
• 17:44
  personable, to listen to other people.
• 17:46
  You know, there's can be a million, billion people that can
• 17:48
  use AI or going to be data scientists.
• 17:51
  But if you can relate to someone's and you can listen to
• 17:54
  them and you can be interested and you can remember their name,
• 17:57
  then that's a superpower. Other words, imposter syndrome
• 18:02
  in your vocabulary or not? Otherwise, imposter.
• 18:06
  Don't think they are. It wasn't really a thing when I
• 18:09
  was younger. It's kind of come forward, but
• 18:13
  no, I just, I just crack on. Do you get imposter syndromes?
• 18:18
  For me, if I start to feel imposter syndrome, that's how I
• 18:21
  know I'm in the right place and that I'm pushing myself out of
• 18:23
  the conference. I think imposter syndrome for
• 18:26
  me, it's kind of the situation where I'm doing something that
• 18:29
  I've not done before or I have future uncertainty of whether or
• 18:32
  not I'm going to succeed as someone who has to really make
• 18:35
  our own opportunities. I've just realized it's just how
• 18:38
  that I'm I'm really pushing myself and where I should be as
• 18:40
  well. When things are going wrong and
• 18:42
  you have to push yourself and you have to learn something new,
• 18:45
  that's when I'm most excited. That's all through the pandemic
• 18:48
  when I had to pivot the business and I had to say I just, I was
• 18:51
  like, this is a great challenge. I was up early and I just really
• 18:55
  loved the buzz. Even though it was all, you
• 18:58
  know, quite stressful, I still loved it.
• 19:00
  When things are just coasting, I start twiddling my thumbs and
• 19:04
  getting a bit bored. Running something like for Oscar
• 19:07
  Generation Summit, that's a huge live event.
• 19:10
  I've found small events before on a much smaller scale, and I
• 19:13
  know the amount of planning and also almost anxiety that I feel
• 19:17
  the night before. Did you follow any of that?
• 19:19
  And also, how do you deal with it when you're organizing
• 19:21
  something as big as a summit like this?
• 19:23
  I found the anxiety was about two weeks ago when you're
• 19:26
  thinking, have we sold enough tickets?
• 19:29
  Are we going to have enough people through the door?
• 19:30
  Have we got enough different groups coming through the door?
• 19:33
  Because I really wanted to be able to access as many different
• 19:36
  schools and academies and community groups as possible.
• 19:39
  Last night was all kind of quite chill.
• 19:42
  It was the calm before the storm, I think.
• 19:45
  For you, as someone that's starting a new venture now, how
• 19:49
  do you think that your mindset is different as compared to when
• 19:52
  you started your first business at 21?
• 19:55
  With off script there's a a bigger team and more people to
• 19:58
  bounce off which is amazing and they are fabulous and everyone's
• 20:03
  got great ideas. I've had to adjust because I'm
• 20:05
  so used to just getting things done without consulting anyone.
• 20:10
  For more videos So funny a company.
• 20:12
  Yes, running my own company and and having small businesses and
• 20:15
  it's always been down to me. And actually I love it.
• 20:17
  It's so good working with a team now and getting all the, you
• 20:20
  know, how we can really make things so much better and also
• 20:24
  just not having all the pressure on me.
• 20:25
  But I do have to just stop, consult and then move forward.
• 20:30
  How did you come across your partners?
• 20:32
  And I said, how did you know that they are the people that
• 20:34
  you wanted to work with? So I've worked with John Gordon
• 20:39
  in my last businesses and he's just wonderful.
• 20:43
  I do a lot by gut instinct if you have a good rapport with
• 20:47
  them and also they have to complement your skills.
• 20:50
  And we've also got investor Mehdi and he is just so open and
• 20:55
  interesting and empathetic that I was just instantly drawn to
• 21:01
  both of them as collaborators. And let me ask you our podcast
• 21:05
  statement, which is what is one thing that you believe?
• 21:08
  Will allow more people to have. Better mental health.
• 21:11
  Make time for yourself and to exercise.
• 21:14
  Go for a run, get outside, look up, appreciate the world.
• 21:18
  Wonderful. Thank you very much for coming
• 21:20
  on the Low to Grow podcast. Thank you.
• 21:23
  Thank you for listening. You excited for the next?
• 21:25
  Episode. Follow Low to Grow podcast on
• 21:28
  Instagram and TikTok to keep in touch with.
• 21:31
  A new announcements.